Leadership

Scientific Education and Professional Development Program Office

Mehran S. Massoudi, PhD, MPH
Associate Director for Science

Mehran S. Massoudi, PhD, MPH, is the Associate Director for Science in the Scientific Education and Professional Development Program Office (SEPDPO), Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, and a commissioned officer in the US Public Health Service. CAPT Massoudi oversees all scientific and clearance matters in SEPDPO. He is the lead for the CDC–Tuskegee Public Health Ethics Fellowship, a collaboration between SEPDPO and CDC's Public Health Ethics Office. In addition, CAPT Massoudi oversees SEPDPO’s research involving human subjects and the information technology unit..

CAPT Massoudi began his professional career as a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer in 1994, assigned to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Cincinnati, Ohio. After completing his 2-year EIS training, he joined CDC's National Immunization Program (NIP) in Atlanta in 1996. In 2001–2002, CAPT Massoudi, who was by then the science advisor to the Smallpox Team at NIP, authored a key paper about the effectiveness of smallpox postexposure prophylaxis. During this period of heightened awareness of potential terrorist actions, CAPT Massoudi's paper was instrumental in CDC's smallpox preparedness activities and planning.

Serving as the SARS Surveillance Team Lead in CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases, CAPT Massoudi used his expertise in global health, epidemiology, and surveillance. He was asked to serve for 2 years in Afghanistan (2005–2007), where he oversaw the development of the Afghan Public Health Institute (APHI), which operates under the Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health. His duties there included training and mentoring the APHI staff, as well as assisting with the ministry's response to the avian influenza outbreaks of 2005–2006. After returning from Afghanistan in 2007, he joined the Office of Workforce and Career Development as the Associate Director for Science in the Career Development Division.

Beyond his regularly assigned duties at CDC, CAPT Massoudi has completed four international deployments to Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Egypt for CDC and the World Health Organization as part of the Polio Eradication Initiative. CAPT Massoudi is also an adjunct assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH). CAPT Massoudi holds a doctorate in epidemiology and a master of public health degree from the University of Pittsburgh, GSPH.